This application is for continued funding for our Child Health Research Career Development Award (CHRCDA), which has established a unique center of excellence for the enhancement of basic and clinical research training in pediatrics with focus on molecular and cellular biology and clinical sciences. This is the third renewal of this grant. Our CHRCDA has supported 32 scholars at our institution, many of whom have become national leaders in academic pediatrics. Collectively, our scholars have published ~644 papers and obtained over $50 million in grant dollars of funding (including 28 R01's). The Center enhances academic career development of young pediatric faculty, providing mentorship and Core facilities designed to enhance the training of pediatricians as required for an academic career. The Center is integrated into innovative established programs for research training including the Procter Scholar Program and extensive NIH funded research programs. The program identifies and recruits promising young pediatric faculty who complete a 2- 3 year program for research enhancement within a CHRCDA program comprised of senior scientist mentors who share a central focus in molecular-cellular biology, molecular medicine or clinical sciences. Career development includes: 1) individual mentorship by Center staff investigators; 2) formal and informal training in molecular genetics, developmental biology, clinical research, epidemiology, and translational research; and 3) Core research elements which prioritizes training in diverse research approaches including molecular biology, immunology, genomics and transgenic/gene targeting models. The present proposal has drawn together established investigators with excellence in developmental science at the Children's Hospital and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. To meet our training goals, a four-part Center is proposed: 1) Center staff investigators who share interest and expertise in the application of molecular and cellular biology and informatics technology in the study of mammalian development, molecular medicine, and clinical research serve as primary mentors for the pediatrician-scholars. 2) Administrative Core identifies recruits and monitors the overall training of pediatrician-scholars. The Core provides support for national recruitment efforts, at local and national levels and prioritizes minority recruitment. 3) Research Cores facilitate the application of molecular and cellular biology, clinical research/epidemiology and statistics to the research programs of pediatrician-scholars. 4) Research support grants provide the pediatrician-scholar research funds and mentorship for a period of 2-3 years. This combined program of individual mentorship and advanced training in contemporary molecular, cellular, developmental biology, and clinical sciences enhances the training and research productivity of our physician-scholars as they begin highly productive academic careers in pediatric science. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]